The Only Exception
by AmazingGraceless
Summary: Bensabiel Prince is a Gryffindor pureblood struggling for his place between the old and the new. Jayden Connolly is a Slytherin muggle-born fighting for her place in the magical world. The two hate each other, but all that's about to change after a series of detentions together with Snape. Shenanigans ensue.
1. Potions Commotion

**AN: I'd like to thank eldestwand on Tumblr for giving me the idea for the story. I hope you like it.**

* * *

Laughter filled the hallways as Bensabiel Prince and three other boys strolled through the front doors of the potion dungeon. They began to settle down as they took their seats in the dungeon, but Ben sobered completely when he saw who they were sitting near.

Perched upon her high-legged chair like it was a throne was Jayden Connolly. Just looking at her made Ben's blood boil. She was cunning, ambitious, and cutthroat. She made Ben want to scream and tear out his dark red hair.

She glanced his way, and he looked down, not wanting to see her stupid smirk. For some reason she seemed to take joy out of tormenting him- he hated it. He hated her.

"Take a seat, you insipid fools. I will take points if I see one person not in their seat!"

Ben rolled his eyes as Snape's booming monotone rang out in the classroom and he pulled open his notebook and dipped his quill in ink. The bat-like figure of Snape burst through the door of his office, looking a little more irritated than usual.

 _Then again, most of the teachers are,_ Ben thought ruefully. _Who wouldn't be with that Umbridge bat around?_

"Today you will be brewing a Peace-Inducing Draught," Snape declared. "Now begin- you only have the hour to finish your draught, and I will give it an OWL grade!"

Ben practically ran for the ingredients cabinet, and only glanced at the board once. Just as his hand closed around a unicorn horn, it almost got yanked from his hand. He tried to yank back, and glanced at his opponent.

 _Connolly- great,_ he thought, and he tried to yank it out of her hands, when she let go for a moment. Before he could get up, however, her painted talons dug into his hands and he yelped, dropping the horn. Jayden smirked and scooped up the horn before it could hit the floor, and she scurried away to her cauldron.

Ben internally groaned and scoured the cabin for another one, and began on his potion, five mines behind. He quickly chopped up the right amounts of each ingredient, and began hurrying along with his potion.

Checking the clock obsessively, he knew he had to get this right, and in the right amount of time- he couldn't afford to screw up another practice OWL potion. His father had sent him endless owls about only getting an E on the last one and Ben suspected his father would send a Howler if he screwed up again.

He looked over to his cutting board and realized his moonlace was missing. He looked over to Jayden's table in a moment of intuition. A growl rose in his throat when he realized the tiny Slytherin girl had stolen his moonlace. Her too-innocent expression confirmed it.

"Give me my moonlace," he growled.

"What?" she asked, looking deceptively bewildered, but Ben wouldn't fall for her stupid tricks.

"I know you took it," he snarled.

"I don't take anything," she retorted. "I actually worked to get to the top, unlike you, little rich boy. Now go away- I can't afford to not make an O on this!"

"Neither can I!" Ben cried in desperation.

"Oh come on," Jayden said, rolling her eyes as she stirred her potion. "You can rely on Daddy's money- who cares if you flunk everything. You can live out your entire life on a bloody golden throne, never work a day in your life!"

"You don't know a thing about me!" Ben shouted, seeing red in his eyes. "I've worked just as hard as you and you know nothing about what's expected for me!"

"You're just a pureblood snot who can't take responsibility for anything!" she shouted back. "And I didn't steal your moonlace- you already added it, you dunderhead!"

"Oh," was all Ben could say. He turned around and forced himself to stir his brew. He managed to calm down a little as he stared at the periwinkle potion and smelled something alike to lavender.

He glanced at the textbook, then at the clock. He clearly had made it correctly, and didn't have a lot of time to spare. He bottled the Peace-Inducing Draught into a flask and hurried along the aisle.

Ben felt something hit his side, and then he tripped, comically, skidding along the row and finally, it ended with him dropping the flask. Laughter filled the dungeon, a foreign sound in the room of doom and gloom, and all Ben felt was rage. He knew who had done it, and he ran to her, seeing red.

She was laughing, practically cackling and didn't see him coming until it was too late. He shoved her, dunking her head in the cauldron- instantly regretting it as her draught splattered all over the floor. He grabbed her long blond curls and pulled her back out. Instead of being peaceful, being dunked in the Peace-Inducing Draught appeared to have the opposite effect.

Spluttering and angry, her talons dug into his robes, and Ben feared for his life.

"Connolly! PRINCE! TWENTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR AND DETENTION FOR BOTH OF YOU!" Snape bellowed.

Ben's stomach felt like it was in free-fall. What was his father going to say when he heard his son had gotten detention? And worse, hadn't finished a potions assignment?

He was irritated, to see the least, when Jayden began the crocodile tears.

"B-But, Professor Snape," she whined. "I-I was the one dunked into the c-cauldron- you should punish him, not me!"

"Don't pretend I didn't see your Tripping Hex or your attempt to strangle Mr. Prince, Miss Connolly," Snape said coldly. "Detention is at six, you will be cleaning my classroom for a week. I will not have bumbling idiots rough housing in my classroom!"

Ben sighed, slightly ashamed of himself. Then again, it did feel good to get one on Jayden Connolly. He shuffled up the stairs, knowing that he'd have to figure out a good explanation for this to his father.


	2. Detention

Jayden reluctantly descended to the dungeons after swallowing down what she could of her peach cobbler. While she had the fortune of not having to tell Mum or Daddy about detention- they really didn't know anything about her magic school.

It was only the second night of detention and she already felt like she'd rather have her head dunked in a cauldron again rather than spend another night scrubbing Professor Snape's cauldrons with Bensabiel Prince.

"Ew, I can't believe that you're stuck with him," Mafalda Prewett said when Jayden had explained the predicament the night before. "He's such an idiot. And clearly has some anger issues."

"Yeah," Allana Durron had agreed. "You should tell Dumbledore- or maybe Umbridge."

"I will," Jayden said. "But I'm not holding my breath for her to overturn one of _Snape's_ detentions."

* * *

So Jayden was there again the second night. She refused to even look at Ben. He'd been a prick since their first year, and she refused to give up a good grudge. She set her bag on a desk and waited as Snape entered from his office.

"Scrub the floors- some first year happened to buy a cheap cauldron and it exploded," Snape ordered. "I want the floors spotless."

"Yes sir," Jayden said reluctantly. The two got on their hands and knees and began scrubbing. It was no real task to Jayden- being the eldest girl of five, she had to know housekeeping. Mum insisted that Neil, her older brother, did the outside work only, and she would only do the work inside.

The half-hour passed in silence. Then a little pink toad by the name of Umbridge appeared in the front doorway.

"Excuse me, little children," she said in her honeyed voice. "Severus! I need to have a chat with you. In my office."

"Delores, I have a detention to oversee-"

"It is urgent business!"

Snape appeared to be groaning internally. He glanced at Jayden and Ben.

"Continue your detention- you'd better be here when I come back."

With that, the bat followed the toad and the dungeon was silent again.

 _And now the twit will leave me to do this all myself,_ Jayden said to herself as she continued to scrub the floor. But the minutes ticked by, and Ben kept scrubbing the floor with her.

Finally, he looked at her.

"I thought you would've gone sneaky Slytherin and have left me to do it all," he said.

Jayden shrugged, not letting him get to her with offensive that was. "If you want to know the truth, I'm a little scared of Snape."

"Really?" Ben asked. "I thought all Slytherins loved him, and the feeling was mutual."

"Slytherin status is moot when you're a muggle-born," Jayden answered quietly. Her inner armor felt like it was cracking and breaking and she couldn't keep up her facade for long.

"Oh," was all Ben said.

"Why didn't you get all brave and ditch me?" she asked after a few minutes.

"That's not brave, that's stupid," he scoffed. "Besides, I don't like Snape much either."

"Hmm," Jayden murmured. "Well, he doesn't like Gryffindors much, especially little princes like you."

This time Ben shrugged.

"Harry Potter isn't all of us," he said simply.

"Well, you are many repulsive things, but not insane," Jayden admitted.

"He's not insane! He's telling the truth!" Ben argued.

"Believe what you want," Jayden said with a shrug. "But You-Know-Who is dead. He died fourteen years ago- that's what everyone says. How can anyone come back from the dead?"

"Well, how do you explain Cedric Diggory?" Ben shot back.

"I don't know," Jayden admitted. The two were quiet for a moment. "I don't know who killed him, but I doubt it was a dead man, and I think Dumbledore should've been fired then and there."

"I'm not disagreeing with that," Ben admitted. Jayden blinked, surprised. She thought everyone worshipped the ground that the headmaster walked on.

"Oh yes," Ben continued, clearly reading her shocked expression. "Dumbledore's always been a bit mad- but then again, some of the best wizards are- but he's too mad to be running a school in times like these when madmen are running about killing children."

"Amen to that," Jayden muttered. "I don't like Umbridge any more than the next person, but we need to have her in Hogwarts- it's really has gone to the dogs, with every teacher praising Harry Potter and ignoring the rest of us!"

"Well there's something to agree on," Ben said as they continued to scrub the floor.

Jayden found herself looking at Ben differently- maybe he wasn't as bad as she thought. She still abhorred his old-money attitude and his strong belief in Potter, but maybe the grudge wasn't worth it.

 _No, you hate him, remember?_ she reminded herself. She hurried to finish the scrubbing and let out a sigh of relief when she was finished, scrambling out of the classroom in a mad dash.

 _I must've been getting poisonous fumes off the cleaning potion he made us use_ , Jayden rationalized. _Why else would I spill my guts to Ben Prince?_

She shuddered at the terrifying thought.


	3. Great Expectations

Ben returned to the Potions dungeon the next night with scorch marks and soot on his hands and robes. Snape pointed to a stack of spare textbooks and disappeared into his office.

Jayden briefly glanced at him.

"Need me to clean up that Howler?" she asked.

Ben blinked. Even though they had come to an agreement the night before, he was surprised Connolly would do anything for him. He also turned bright red as he nodded, remembering how a Howler had gone off in the Great Hall, from his father no less.

It was needless to say that he'd hurried down to the dungeons for that very reason.

" _Scourgio_ ," Jayden said, and with a wave of her wand, the marks were gone.

Ben sighed in relief and hovered over the books, not sure what to do.

"We're finding any 'vandalism' and erasing it from the books," Jayden explained. "By the way, I liked your father's charismatic cursing in regards to you. I've got to learn how to insult someone like that while sounding so posh!"

"Merlin, can you please forget about the Howler?" Ben asked stressedly.

"Really?" Jayden tsked. "It's too easy to push your buttons, Prince."

"I'm under a lot of stress right now, so if you could please shut up about it-" Ben warned, trying to ignore the urge to lob one of the books at her head.

"I hadn't noticed," she deadpanned. "Look, I heard what your father said about wanting to send you to some other school across the pond, but he won't actually do it. You're actually alright, for a Gryffindor."

"You don't know my father," he said. "He's manic about making sure that I'm abso-bloody-lutely the perfect little house-elf son he wants."

"Boo-boo, he wants you to have good grades," Jayden said callously as she began erasing a rather lewd illustration from one of the ratty spares.

"You still don't get it!" Ben's voice rose higher along with his blood pressure, of that he was certain. "Get top marks? Not good enough, get more leadership positions. Join the Drama Club? Not good enough, Claudius Prince's son isn't going to be an actor, join a respectable club. Become the secretary of the Charms Brigade? Not good enough, that's nice son, but sports would also be a good idea. End up a reserve Beater for Gryffindor? Not good enough, why aren't you better than Arthur Weasley's brats, you had years of the Junior Quidditch League, none of them did!"

"Somebody's got daddy issues," Jayden muttered.

"My father's all I've got, but I'm never enough for him," Ben said, much more quietly. "Must be nice, having muggle-born parents who couldn't give a damn whether or not you'll ever match up to Hermione Granger."

"Excuse me, my parents care plenty," Jayden snapped. "Besides, having less of your father around doesn't make it any better. My father's an archeologist and he's off in Belize or the U.S. half the time."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ben said, instantly feeling some sympathy.

"My mother has plenty of great expectations for me, though," Jayden continued as she whipped through the book, almost ripping out the pages. "The eldest girl child, the pretty face, you know. Doesn't matter what else I do- I just have to be pretty. She cried when I got freckles, you know? She was crying because she thought it reduced my ability to marry up or something- even though this isn't the regency era, for crying out loud!"

"Well, I'd think you were pretty if it weren't for your infuriating attitude," Ben admitted awkwardly. Indeed, he was a boy, and he did notice that she had a slight figure, although it was masked by her uniform.

"Eyes on the books," Jayden said quickly. Guilty, he looked back into the book and erased one of the stupid jokes about turning to this-and-this page.

"But thanks," Jayden added. "That means a lot coming from someone who dunked my heard into a cauldron."

"I'm sorry about that, I lost my temper when I shouldn't have," Ben said quickly, but meaning it.

"I accept your apology," she said stiffly. She then looked to the door of Snape's office, and pulled out a headset and turned on a strange muggle device.

"What's that?" Ben asked curiously.

"It's my Walkman," Jayden said as if it should be obvious. "It plays music. Want to give it a try?"

Ben looked again to the door Snape had gone through, and took them. Immediately he was greeted with a riff unlike the wizard wrock he'd heard before.

"It's 'Smells Like the Teenage Spirit,'" Jayden explained. "Best song ever."

"I guess it's okay," Ben said, handing her back her headset.

She shrugged. "Miss out on good music, why don't you?"

"Like you have good taste in music," Ben scoffed.

Jayden raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, you do," Ben reluctantly admitted.

Jayden smirked in triumph.

"I hear more talking than I do erasing!"

The two quickly began to go through the books again until they'd suspected that Snape was gone.

"Creepy old bat," Jayden muttered.

"And your head of house, Miss Great Expectations," Ben pointed out.

"And we went over this, I'm a mudblood and proud," Jayden said. Ben's eyes widened.

"Hey, I can use the term," she said with a shrug. "Besides, it's true, isn't it?"

"I'm not going to comment," Ben said decidedly.

"Smart boy," Jayden muttered.

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Ben said in shock.

"Don't get used to it, Prince, I can appreciate a good thing from a snot every now and then," Jayden retorted.

"I will cherish it forever and remember it upon my gravestone that my mortal enemy, Jayden Connolly, called me a smart boy on September 13th, 1995," Ben declared melodramatically.

For that, Jayden punched him in the arm.

"Hey!" he protested.

"You're not that bad, Prince," she admitted.

"Been considering that one for a while?" he asked.

"Yes, don't make me take it back," she said icily.

"Yes, milady," he replied teasingly, with a fire in his eyes.

She rolled her eyes, and continued erasing the books.

Ben had a warm feeling in his heart when he left the dungeon that night. He had to admit, he hadn't really ever seen Jayden as much of a person as he did now- and seeing her as a person, with thoughts and a life as complex as his own made it impossible for him to hate her like he did before.


	4. Something There

"Final night of detention?" Allana Durron asked over dinner.

"Yes," Jayden answered, glancing over her shoulder briefly. "It wasn't too bad, in retrospect."

"Not too bad?" Allana and Mafalda exchanged a glance.

"Has he been Confunding you?" Mafalda demanded. "You hate Prince- he's a self-righteous prick who believes in that Potter lunatic, is a pureblood heir who will never work a day in his life, and is an idiot! Why on earth would you think he's 'not that bad?'"

Jayden shrugged. "People change."

"Not this quickly," Mafalda pointed out.

"I don't need to justify myself to you," Jayden said quickly as she glanced at her secondhand watch. She sighed at the chipped edges she had polished zealously in attempt to look better and wealthier than she actually was- as if anyone could be fooled.

"I have to go," she said suddenly, and she slung her schoolbag over her shoulder and dashed away to the potions dungeons for the final time. Ben was already there, and it sent a little thrill into Jayden.

 _Don't get excited,_ she chided herself.

"Last detention, eh?" Ben said merrily. "Wotcher, Connolly."

"Wotcher," Jayden said quietly. "You're in a good mood."

"And you aren't?" Ben asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Upon hearing concern, Jayden felt her inner defenses going up.

She shrugged.

"Did I say something? Am I being annoying?" he asked, clearly confused by her suddenly icy behavior.

"No."

"Talk to me, Jayden, what's wrong?" Ben asked.

"I'm not supposed to like you," she said in a dead-sounding voice. "It's not right."

"Jayden, Jayden, what are you talking about?" he asked as dipped a rag into the bucket and swished at the outside of the pewter cauldron. He paused, making eye-contact with her.

"I'm supposed to hate you, despise you, remember?" she asked. "You did dunk my head in a cauldron."

"Well, I can't hate you," Ben said, turning slightly red after he said it.

"I can't either."

The words hung in the silence as she scrubbed aggressively at her own pewter cauldron.

"Then what's the problem with us not hating each other?" Ben asked.

"My friends all say that I'm just confused and not thinking clearly to say that you're not all bad," Jayden explained.

"Well, you did hate me with a passion," Ben admitted.

"Well, you are infuriating," Jayden retorted.

"Infuriatingly charming, right?" Ben asked, that fire in his eyes that blazed whenever he began to act the theatrical extrovert. Jayden rolled her eyes.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," she answered, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"If you want, we can pretend to not be friends," Ben said. "No one has to know if we hang out, or if we do anything with each other. I just don't want it to end, Connolly."

"I feel the same way," Jayden confessed. "We can be friends. But in secret."

"It's a deal," Ben said.

* * *

And so began a friendship in the shadows. On weekends, they would slip down to the corners of the library or in strange castle courtyards and talk, listen to music, or read together. Whether it was plays Ben had found in the student records dating back a hundred years or fantasy adventures Jayden mail-ordered from the muggle-world with her pocket money, both were throughly entertained.

While in class, they would both exchange glares and exchange harsh words, but it was all a game to them now. There was simply something there that wasn't there before, and neither of them were fighting it too hard.


	5. Potter Fodder

"Hey, you know about the next Hogsmeade weekend?" Ben asked as they sat out in a tree by the lake.

"Mm?" Jayden looked up from her latest adventure book about dashing pirates and cursed treasure.

"There's something I'd like you to see," he said carefully. He knew Jayden might not like it if he explained it outright. She was so meticulous about her reputation and such that it was hard to even meet her out in the lake like this.

"And you want us to go see it? Together?" Jayden asked skeptically. "What is it?"

"It's a huge surprise, I think you'll like it-"

"Don't you pull that with me, Prince," she snapped as she lightly punched him in the arm. "What is it you're not telling me?"

"Harry Potter's offered to have us meet him at the Hog's Head and get real Defense lessons," Ben said. "Not the load of troll bogies that Umbridge has been giving us."

"I don't know," Jayden admitted with a heavy sigh. "You know how I feel about what Potter has to say."

"But you have got to admit that Umbridge is a God-awful teacher," Ben said, trying to give her a gentle push in the right direction. "And Potter survived the Triwizard Tournament- surely he knows something- right?"

"I suppose you're right about Umbridge," she admitted with a sigh. "But Potter seems more lucky than talented."

"Look, I don't like Potter much either," he said, looking her in the eye straight on. "But I think he's worth a listen- I'd rather learn from him than Umbridge. Wouldn't you?"

"Why do you care so much?" Jayden asked. "I can learn Defense stuff on my own."

 _Because I'd miss you if You-Know-Who killed you,_ Ben thought immediately. _Because I don't want you to die, and Lord knows you can take care of yourself, but. . ._

 _Stop that!_ Ben told _himself firmly. You're getting very mushy there for your friend._

"Because," he said, planning his next words carefully. "It's something we can do together. In public. Without anyone getting. . .suspicious."

Jayden stared scrutinizingly at him, and for a moment, he thought that maybe she'd uncannily locked onto his less than friendly motives.

"Fine, we'll go," she said, looking back down into her book.

* * *

Ben made sure to bring his own glasses, as Granger had advised, and immediately felt unsafe when the bartender glared at him with steely blue eyes that felt like a sword about to pierce him.

"T-Two butterbeers please," Ben said, straightening himself and trying to look more confident than he felt.

"Ten sickles, I want 'em up front," the bartender ordered.

Ben quickly forked over the money.

"And if you could use these glasses-"

The bartender stared for a moment, his expression unreadable, at least to Ben.

"Fine." The man took the glasses from Ben in a jerky, gruff movement, and he poured the glasses.

"Thank you," Ben said as he quickly took back his now-frothing glasses. He turned to see Jayden walking through the door, hood up, even thought it didn't cover her blond curls.

"Butterbeer?" he offered her a glass. She snatched it out of his hands.

"Thanks," she murmured before she took a sip.

"No problem," Ben said, drinking a bit of his own butterbeer. "This should be interesting."

* * *

"So, what did you think?" he asked as they walked down the streets of Hogsmeade to return to the castle.

"He convinced me," Jayden said quietly.

"Of what?" he asked, not entirely sure what she meant.

"That You-Know-Who returned," she said with a peak of an emotion Ben had never heard from the great Jayden Connolly- fear.

"Are you scared?" he asked cautiously, despite knowing the answer.

"Of course I am, Ben!" she snapped. "Don't you remember? He'll kill people like me- just because my parents are muggles!"

"I-I just wondered," he said, putting his hands up in surrender. "Do you want to keep going to Potter's defense classes?"

"Damn right I want to keep going!" Jayden retorted. "I'm not going to lay down and die for some idiotic supremacist who thinks I'm not just as worthy as him to live!"

"Okay, maybe it will be fun," Ben suggested. "Besides, you can beat my arse in duels."

She elbowed him playfully, although it did leave him gasping for breath.

"I already beat your arse without duels," she said sharply.

"Oh really? I can take you on at any time," Ben said.

"I'd like to see you try," Jayden said with a smirk.

"You wanna go? You wanna go?" Ben asked, his competitive nature beginning to get the best of him.

"No, not really," Jayden admitted with a smile. "I like being friends with you. Even if you are a dumb little heir and I could still kick your arse."

"Such friendly phrases," Ben muttered.

"You know me- I tell it like it is," Jayden replied with a shrug


	6. Educational Nonsense

"Education degree my arse," Jayden muttered when Ben came over to tell her about the new difficulty Umbridge had created. "Shouldn't you go back to your table anyway? Wouldn't want your pretty arse in trouble."

"I didn't think you thought my arse to be that pretty," Ben mumbled under his breath. "But I appreciate the concern. And you're right- one would wonder what hanging around a Gryffindor would do for your reputation."

Jayden gave him an icy glare before her blond curls swished forwards, hiding her face. He always brought it up one way or another- her reluctance to be open about their friendship. She had a reputation to maintain- her mother had instilled it in her. She had to be the one to bring home the bread and to do that in the Wizarding world, she would have to have the right connections to make it happen.

She sighed as Ben walked away back to the Gryffindor table and finished her porridge sprinkled with blueberries, although she didn't feel very hungry. She sighed yet again as she slung her bag over her shoulder and began towards the Greenhouses for her first class with the Ravenclaws.

* * *

Allana Durron and Mafalda Prewett flanked her side as she entered the dungeons. In the commotion of the entire year being downstairs, she slipped away to give something to Ben. She slipped it in one of his books- a homework planner, she believed, and hoped that it would make the difference.

 _Why should you care?_ Jayden scolded herself. _He wouldn't care so much about you._

She knew the truth, however. It was why she continued her friendship with him, as difficult as it was- wasn't it? As much as she hated to admit it, she admired how he seemed to care about everyone and everything- and it made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

 _Not exactly a Slytherin thought,_ Jayden said to herself as she returned to her seat between Allana and Mafalda. _What's happening to me? Last month, I was a perfect Slytherin. Now. . ._

She shook her head and pulled back her curls into a ponytail, although a few strands fell loose. Snape entered looking like a bat, and all looked like it was about to go as well as it did normally- except for the arrival of a little toad dressed all in pink. It took a moment for her to realize that it was Umbridge.

"Hem hem," Umbridge coughed, declaring her presence to the entire class. "I have come to inspect your classes. I assume you got the notice?"

"Yes," Snape said contemptuously, looking as if he wished to dunk _her_ head in a cauldron. "Now, if you don't mind, Inquisitor, I'd like to continue with my class."

Jayden rolled up her sleeves and prepared for the task ahead. Snape wanted them to make the Draught of Living Death.

She found herself rushing about, trying to master this Draught as the clock ticked down with all her hopes and dreams. She swiftly flasked and capped it, and turned it in. On the way back, however, she began to trip- only for Ben to catch her by the arm and pull her back up and allowing her to regain her balance. She smiled at him gratefully and received a friendly one in response, and she returned to her table, where Mafalda Prewett and Allana Durron were waiting for her.

"He actually helped you?" Mafalda asked, her ice-blue eyes wide in awe.

"He's alright," Jayden said with a fondness all the ice in the world couldn't mask.

"Are you losing your mind?" Allana Durron demanded, waving her hand in front of Jayden's emerald eyes.

"No, thank you very much," Jayden snapped, swatting Allana's hand away. "I'm just fine. Besides, my opinions can change, can't they?"

"I suppose," Allana admitted, pursing her lips painted in Cherry lip gloss. "If he so much as looks at you the wrong way, I will personally murder him."

"Not if I didn't get to him first," Jayden murmured decisively.

* * *

They met outside of Umbridge's office after their classes were finished for the day.

"You're brilliant, Connolly," Ben said as he came forward, clutching the slip of paper Jayden had passed to him. "A club? Then no one will question it! What's up with the name, though?"

Jayden shrugged as a smirk curled the edged of her pale pink lips. "I thought Umbridge would like it."

"I suppose," Ben admitted. "Ready, then?"

They turned and knocked on the door. Without a moment's hesitation, the door opened, and the little toad welcomed them in with a sugary smile on her face, eager to hear about the club of the youth. She was patient and seemed very enthusiastic.

"It isn't exactly the customary type of club," Umbridge admitted. "But I'll allow it. After all, it is spreading the truth about our most dangerous student. I appreciate your troubles to inform your peers of the dangers."

"It's our duty," Jayden said solemnly, repressing the urge to laugh hysterically. "And we will serve Hogwarts to the end."

"Good girl," Umbridge said, patting her on the head like she was a puppy. "And Mr. Prince, I will have to send your father a letter of commendation- such a service builds great character- something a son of Claudius Prince would be expected to do! Nevertheless, he should be so proud! Now move along, I have quite a bit to do!"

The two practically ran from the room and waited until they turned the corner before collapsing into giggles.

"Did you see how she patted me? Patted me!"

"And how she pretty much was like it was Christmas come early?"

"And oh God, how she went on about being a service to the school-"

"And going on about my father-"

Jayden stopped abruptly and looked to Ben, thinking of what he'd told her in the dungeons during detention.

"I'm sure your father will be so pleased. And if he isn't? I'm proud of you and that should be damn well enough. You're alright, Prince."

He couldn't help but smile back. "Right back at you, Connolly."

Her heart was more warmed by that than she would've thought. She found herself twirling about the Slytherin dormitory like a Disney Princess.


	7. The Harry Potter Expulsion Club

An abandoned classroom was set aside by Umbridge for the Harry Potter Expulsion Club and so it began. To Ben and Jayden's surprise, a Ravenclaw girl named Lauren McKinnon was eager to show up, although she was slightly disappointed to find that the club did not actually want to expel Harry Potter.

Lauren, Ben, and Jayden still hung around the classroom, talking about whatever and hastily changing the subject if they saw Umbridge coming their way to reasons why Harry Potter was a menace. It took a while, but eventually more students from the other houses came in, especially some Slytherins.

Allana and Mafalda staged an intervention, however.

"You're hanging out with him?" Allana demanded as she stormed into the meeting for the HPEC.

Jayden looked up from their spectacular game of Gobstones.

"Not with him, really, more with her. Trust me, Lauren's the one who keeps us from exploding the entire thing," Jayden lied.

Lauren blinked for a moment, nodded, and looked back down to the Gobstones, her ponytail slipping over her shoulder.

"Look, you need to decide who your friends are," Mafalda said, her icy blue eyes piercing into Jayden even as she looked away. They walked away, and Jayden found herself wondering yet again why she was crossing lines so much.

* * *

She felt like she was really crossing lines when she walked into the hidden room by the troll ballet painting. Eyes were drawn to the silver and green crest on her sweater, but she stood tall, remained poised like her mother had taught her. She looked like a queen, even if all she was just a pawn.

Ben's hand somehow found its way into hers reassuringly. She briefly squeezed his fingertips for reassurance and felt one right back. Quickly, she let go, not wanting to touch Prince for any longer than she had to or needed to.

The very thought of needing him for anything, social or otherwise, brought the taste of vomit to her mind with a cocktail of guilt, shame, and a loneliness hovering around her like a black cloud.

Still, she listened to Potter, to Granger, to Weasley. She didn't trust them-but Ben did, and that was somehow enough reassurance for her.

 _They'll get to actual firepower later,_ she assured herself as she practiced the Disarming Charm so many times, she beat Ben just by thinking about it and her wand twitching in a similar way to the flicking motion.

Even as eyes glared at her on her way out, she resolved to still come.

* * *

Halloween was coming around, and Ben wanted to do something for the holiday. With how Umbridge appeared to be ruining everything, he thought they might as well try to do something to make it all better. Indeed, it was one of the muggle-horns, Thomas Ravenwood, who suggested that they dress up for a Halloween meeting.

Everyone had agreed to the idea, and Lauren mailed home for several Halloween decorations. Ben, with the help of Orla Quirke, began creating his costume- a dragon. It was slightly lopsided and childishly colorful, but it was sort of fun. The only one who he didn't know what they would be was Jayden.

She was ever-so-secretive about it, absolutely refusing to tell anyone what she was making. He even risked asking Allana Durron and Mafalda Prewett briefly, only to be chased by a floating Daily Prophet smacking him for all his troubles. He eventually learned to leave it all to be.

Indeed, when Halloween rolled around, he came to find that her costume really wasn't all that special. She came dressed in a blue gown with a tiara. While the muggle-borns practically gushed, Ben didn't understand what the fuss was about.

"I'm Cinderella," Jayden told him, as if it was obvious when he cornered her by the punch bowl. "It's a muggle movie. Disney. Sorry if you were expecting me to go as God. I'll keep that in mind for next time."

"I thought-" Ben sighed. "I just thought it was something big and meaningful because you were keeping it such a big secret."

"It's because I don't like people seeing me try on the thing or making my clothes," Jayden said.

It took a minute to sink in for Ben.

"You sew all your clothes?" he asked, shocked at yet another talent, another side of Jayden Connolly. She just pressed her lips together and turned away.

"Wait, I think it's really cool-"

But she was gone.


	8. Defense Against Dumbledore's Army

The next day, the day after that, and for the following week, Jayden went out of her way to avoid Ben. No one needed to know how poor her family was. It was another day in Potions when it happened.

He stormed in, and plopped down next to Jayden. Before she could get up, she realized that all the other seats had been taken, and saw Ben's friends sharing conspiratorial glances. She turned red and looked down at her notes on how to fix her Draught of Living Death.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get all in your business at Halloween," Ben explained.

"Doesn't matter now, does it? You know the truth, don't you?" Jayden asked bitterly.

"I don't care!" he cried. "I don't care how rich or poor, or how many brilliant things you can do! I care about you!"

Jayden felt heat flush to her cheeks.

"You think I do brilliant things?"

"Of course I do!" he cried. "You're really smart, and really talented, Jayden. Of course you can sew on top of all that! I'm not trying to be the bad guy and hurt you! I just want to be your friend."

Jayden couldn't help but smile. Only a month ago, almost two, Bensabiel Prince would've never said so many good things about her in one sentence. . . Yet now. . .

"I know," she admitted with a heavy sigh. "It's just. . . You don't understand!"

He just blinked, his blue eyes on her.

"You're right," he said with a voice struggling to remain calm. "Explain it to me."

"You don't understand why someone might be embarrassed that they're poor?" The snarky statement fell out of Jayden's cherry-red lips and she clapped a hand over her mouth. She was such an idiot!

"Okay, you might be onto something," Ben admitted with a bit of humor in his voice. "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings-I should've known better."

"I forgive you," she said, and in that moment she felt some sort of relief along with the feeling of thrill and fear, like she was walking alongside a cliff side.

"Good, so you'll talk to me again?" he asked excitedly.

Jayden rolled her eyes and swatted him on the arm, although she couldn't resist a grin.

* * *

Even in the D.A., where she'd signed Granger's stupid contract saying she wouldn't snitch, suspicious eyes always had her locked in their gaze. She wasn't stupid. Ben. . . Ben belonged there. Jayden did not. She tried to remain cold, remain proud, remain pureblood. But that was never easy, sticking out in the silver and green like a sore thumb.

It had been a cold, rainy day when Jayden came up with a plan to stop the staring, to stop the whispers once and for all. She convinced herself that Ben wouldn't mind, after all, he belonged with the other Gryffindors and wouldn't miss a thing.

As soon as she stepped into the room, she realized it did in fact work. No one seemed to recognize her face if she wore Ben's Gryffindor sweater, despite being slightly too big and still wearing the same face.

"Jayden!"

She inwardly cursed Ben's enthusiasm as she stomped over, now recognized and gaining attention.

"Is that my sweater?" he asked when she came over.

"Yeah," she replied, looking anywhere but at him. "So what?"

"I was wondering where it had gotten to," he admitted, looking her over. "Looks nicer on you than it does on me. This is Megan Jones, from Hufflpeuff."

"Nice to meet you," Jayden said immediately, faking a smile as she extended a hand to Megan Jones.

"Likewise," Megan replied with a bright grin. "I love coming, don't you?"

"I'm still making friends," Jayden said, trying to be purposefully vague.

"I'd imagine, being the only one from your house," Megan said sympathetically. "I know you're here for the same reason all the rest of us are."

"That's good to know," Jayden admitted. "I'm sorry my house is a bunch of dirty Death Eaters."

Megan chuckled. "Not your fault. You're a muggle-born, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Jayden admitted.

"Cool," Megan said as a red-haired girl in a Hufflepuff sweater came over. "Susan, what's up?"

"Had to get away from Ernie, poor fellow's already stressed to London and back about the O.W.L.s," Susan said. With a feeling of free-fall, Jayden recognized Susan as a girl who Crabbe and Goyle had attacked.

"You're Susan Bones, aren't you?" Jayden realized aloud.

"Yes, probably heard of my parents or my auntie," Susan said with a modest blush. "What's your name again?"

"Jayden Conolly," she said.

Susan's face split into a grin.

"That's right, I've been hearing about the Slytherin in the D.A.," she said. "Welcome, sorry I haven't talked to you personally-you just seemed so shy and I thought maybe you had social anxiety and I didn't want to upset you, especially if you'd had a a bad day and-"

Jayden's eyes widened at just how nice Susan Bones was. How nice Megan Jones was.

 _How nice Ben is to me, despite everything._

* * *

Friendship, Jayden was discovering, made all the difference. There was a certain camaraderie that came with being rebels, defying the very Ministry in and of itself. Jayden enjoyed being able to smirk with Ben or Susan or Megan or Potter in the middle of Umbrige's crap-saccharine lessons and know that she was only growing in her own power.

It was sitting with Lauren in the Harry Potter Expulsion Club and enjoying a few minutes' peace while they enjoyed stringing Umbridge along. It was lying in the grass by the lake with Ben, swapping music on his radio. It was talking to Susan Bones about muggle culture and realizing that she wasn't alone.

It was against everything her mother had taught her, and Jayden loved every second of it.


	9. Nobody Puts Benny in a Corner

For once, Claudius Prince left his son well alone and there were no Howlers since the Harry Potter Expulsion Club had been formed. Ben suspected due to Umbridge doting on him to the point that he was a little creeped out by the toad that she had some thing to do with it. Not that he was complaining.

Of course, that was all about to change.

It started on one of Umbridge's rampages. She was flicking her wand every which way in hoping that someone would get in trouble. Shirts were forcibly tucked in, and couples ripped apart-some of which weren't couples at all!

Ben and Jayden had been discussing the proper method to tackle a mountain troll, and had been standing perhaps a little too close.

"Too close," they heard the toad mutter before the flick of her wand and the two were repelled two feet.

"Gah!" Ben cried as he toppled over from the force of it. Jayden helped him up immediately, and Ben was forcibly reminded of how grateful he was that Jayden didn't hate him anymore. "Thanks."

"No problem," Jayden replied, icily glaring in Umbridge's direction. "She's getting out of control."

"You know what we should do about it?" Ben said, an idea sparking into his head.

"No," Jayden admitted. "But you do?"

"Mistletoe Day," Ben said. "It's around that time. A day of PDA."

"Bloody brilliant, that is," Jayden said. "We should bring it up at the Harry Potter Expulsion Club."

"Aren't we supposed to do the opposite of rebelling there?" he asked.

"Yes, but the D.A. doesn't need anything else to do," she said with a shrug. "Besides, everyone needs a little rebellion every now and then."

"I think I might actually be proud of you," he said.

He could've sworn he'd seen her blush.

Bensabiel found himself lately daydreaming about Jayden Connolly more than he would've liked. She was cute, smart, and she was starting to have a real heart of gold. The problem? He was most definitely not good enough for her.

 _I mean, come on, Ben, you might be in theater, the DA, the Charms Brigade, and the Harry Potter Expulsion Club, but you're not a looker, and she used to hate you. Might as well give up wanting Jayden Connolly._

Still, he had some hope. Besides, maybe for PDA day. . . .

* * *

It was a week before Christmas, the last day of the term. The Harry Potter Expulsion Club was excited. Several members were sticking close to their crushes to double as PDA Day and a declaration of liking-not quite love, after all.

Ben's heart pounded as he saw Jayden in the center of the hall. It was almost time. . .

He checked his watch just as it changed to the very minute. 9:45.

He whipped out his wand with the rest of the club and summoned mistletoe above several doorways and arches. He then practically sprinted to get to Jayden before one of the others could get to her. She was standing right under an arch with a mistletoe hanging above.

"Ben, what's-"

Before she could answer, he kissed her. He half-expected her to shove him away, to tell him to stop being silly, or to jinx him into oblivion. What happened instead was much more preferable. She leaned in, wrapping her arms around him, really getting into it.

Then, too soon, they were yanked apart by a furious Umbridge.

"Mr. Prince! Miss Connolly! I expected better from you! Detention, tonight! Be lucky it isn't more!" Umbridge shrieked, stamping off angrily at all the couples making out in the corridors.

"That was great," Jayden said. "You're clever, doing that for the PDA Day. That's all it was, right?"

Ben felt as if he'd crashed over rocks.

"Um, yeah, right," he said, struggling to keep his composure. "Just for PDA Day, that's all."

He gathered his books and walked away before he could say another word. He didn't even look at her during detention as he carved the words into his hand with the foul quill- _I must stay two feet away from witches at all times._

What Ben didn't know was that Jayden was sitting awake under her silken canopy bed, staring at the scars and wishing it were real, too.


End file.
